I’m a sophomore from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. And I’m currently leading a team working on a project about visual programming methods for controlling drones. We are planning to introduce drones, together with programming, to K-12 STEM(Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education.

We are now working with a quad copter controlled by Pixhawk, and a companion computer Raspberry Pi. We are currently testing the Dronekit-python.

Here’s my idea: a set of user-friendly API for ArduPilot. I have discovered that from Linux commands to MAVProxy, they are too complicated for a beginner to get started. And the official documents are sometimes misleading. APSync did quite well in making my life easier, and I would like to step further. I want to integrate all packages needed for developers together, and optimize drone-kit, MAVProxy and others to make them more user-friendly.

I would like to realize:

integration of Dronekit-python to APSync

upload scripts automatically to Companion Computer and debug them remotely on PC

integration of Companion Computer’s GPIO to current API (I’m not sure if it is necessary)

Since my work will probably be correlated to Dronekit-python, I’m not sure whether it will be a appropriate idea for GSoC if Dronekit belongs to another project. But anyway, I will probably start working on it very soon since it is essential to us, and I will be glad to share my code when I finish.